The Art Of The Christmas Function
For some weird reason, every year as we start getting into Christmas party season, I’m always reminded of The Office Christmas specials – the two-part series finale episodes of the awkward British mockumentary comedy television series that propelled Ricky Gervais into the limelight and onto the Golden Globes stage to show off his talent of making a whole room of famous people squirm.
These episodes were iconic as they were the last gift to fans after the show’s end but there was also something special in the way there were presented as a kind of where-are-they-now for the team. Things had moved on. David Brent had lost his position and had become a travelling clean supply salesperson but the Christmas function acted as a catalyst for them to come together again. The reason, I think about this is not because my particular office resembles that of a dysfunctional paper company with dubious management practices, but because it is an example of the fact that in spite of personality quirks, the stress of targets and KPIs, and fridge etiquette, we spend a huge chunk of time with our colleagues and clients and while business might be the agenda, you can’t help but form human connections based on shared experiences and achievements throughout the year.
I think a good Christmas office party is really a celebration of that. It’s a moment to reflect on the year and look ahead, but also more importantly a time to ditch the work talk and enjoy each other’s company, not as work colleagues but as people. And really at the end of the day, we are all just a bunch of atoms bumbling around in the infinite expanse of the cosmos, so you may as well enjoy some great food and cocktails along the way.
And to help with just that, Cordis Auckland has a few options to help you organise a Christmas Function to remember. Pretty smooth segue eh? It’s been long year. Anyway, back to the subject at hand.
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Our Land Is Alive is a fantastic bar and restaurant that is built on the foundation of a celebration of local themes and ingredients. This not only makes for fresh tasty cuisine but also provides a unique local spin on meals and cocktails that really shines a light on our very special place in the world. This creativity carries on to their special festive party package that includes a range of festive platters and cocktails.
Available Tuesday to Sundays from $70 per person, there’s a minimum party size of 20 people and a maximum of 40 people.
VIP
If you have a larger office and don’t really want to run your Christmas function in shifts, Cordis Auckland also offer Private Christmas Functions. You can close out all of the Our Land Is Alive venue all to yourselves. From $109 per person, the private Festive Parties Package a specially curated festive menu and music and microphones for you to rock the office band… or not.
Available every Monday with a minimum party size of 60 people and a maximum of 100 people.
The Big Kahuna
For larger corporates trying to entertain more than 400 people, Cordis Auckland also has you covered with their Great Room. We have run a tonne of awesome events there with our M2 Summit and M2woman Journey To Excellence events so I can thoroughly recommend it. The Cordis Auckland will organise a package that includes a Christmas themed three-course dinner or buffet, 30 minute pre-dinner drinks, venue hire, stage and dance floor, DJ, and even Christmas crackers. There are also exclusive accommodation offers available so its perfect for wrangling that Work From Home crew who have absconded to the regions.
Your Own Boss
Of course not all work situations involve a multinational corporate with an entertainment budget that matches the GDP of Belgium. More and more of us are taking destiny into our own hands, joining the gig economy and working for ourselves. There are a lot of perks to this. Including being able to wear jandals for the majority of the week and listening to 90s drum and bass on repeat in the background without any HR complaints. Of course, the big letdown is the lack of office colleagues required for an office Christmas party. Still, there’s no reason why you can’t gather a few independent contractor friends together and celebrate in style at the Eight Restaurant for their special Festive Season Lunches and Dinners which runs until 31 December. You also don’t need a conscious on what type of cuisine you want to have as Eight has 8 kitchens serving up dishes from around the world. That means that you can put more debate time into figuring out which is better, The Office UK or the Office US?
